Carey Harrington
Network Director
WITI San Diego
witi-sandiego@corp.witi.com

WITI San Diego
Tel: 619-436-6465

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Arabella (Carey) Harrington
CEO, Defense Technology Analysts, San Diego Regional Director

Carey Harrington has been with WITI since its inception in San Diego and has served as Director and member of the Leadership Council. She co-founded Defense Technology Analysts in 2004 in order to continue her work in advancing technologies for Homeland Security, the fastest growing industry of the decade. Carey initially began in Homeland Security sector as the first Program Administrator for the Center for the Commercialization of Advanced Technology (CCAT) in San Diego and San Bernardino, Carey was responsible for the coordination of the congressionally funded program, among other duties. CCAT founded in 2001, is an $18 million dollar program tasked with the identification, selection and funding of technology for Homeland Security. The program is managed by the Office of Naval Research and San Diego State University Foundation.

Prior to coming on board at CCAT, Carey was President of Harrington International. Carey acquired SBA - SDB certification and was listed in the Navy Potential Contractor Program. Harrington International provided technical translations, English/Spanish, international technology transfer, technology commercialization, technology assessments, and market intelligence. Her clients included Eli Lily/Galbreath Kite, GTE, Orincon International, numerous Small Business Development Centers, and California Community Colleges.

Providing award winning community service throughout her career, Carey has served on numerous non-profit advisory boards. She founded the East Kern County Hispanic Advisory Council, which provides scholarships for Hispanic students, she presently works with the San Diego Science Alliance, and the BeWise program that provides educational workshops for girls in science and engineering, and is part of the NanoBioNexus Executive Team.

Carey graduated from the University of Redlands with a BS in Business Administration. Carey attended school in Guadalajara, Mexico (School of Psychology) and Rambouillet, France, (French Studies) and graduated from the Global BioExecutive Program at the Haas School of Management at UC Berkeley. She enjoys deep- sea fishing; her biggest catch to date is a 520 lb blue marlin off the coast of Kona, HI in 2003. Carey is the mother of two very wonderful adults - Charles and Dominique, ages 26 and 24.

Molly Tanouye, CSM
Network Coordinator, WITI San Diego

Molly is an IT industry veteran with a background in Business Analysis, Software Development, Quality Assurance and Project Management. She spent her early career working at EDS for a dozen years which included 8 years in San Diego supporting financial institutions. She has worked in various industries including insurance, software consulting, government, banking and law. She is consulting at a local financial institution.

Molly is a long time member of the local WITI Network and one of our most active volunteers. She is a member of PMI San Diego (Project Management Institute) where she has been a Project Manager on the yearly conference planning committee for 5 years.

Molly served in the U.S. Air Force. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Central Florida with a BS in Management and Computer Science. She enjoys connecting with people and travelling to Hawaii several times a year to keep in touch with family.

Jennifer Beckey
Regional Vice President & Director, Corporate Partnerships, WITI

Jennifer Beckey is an entrepreneurially-minded executive whose professional background encompasses companies in both the high technology and professional services sectors.

Jennifer is currently the Office Administrator for the San Francisco office of Littler Mendelson, a national law firm specializing in law and employment law. She is on the Board of Directors for Herophilos, Inc., whose product, HERO, is a web-enabled cloud-computing platform for scientific collaboration. Formerly, she was CEO of Maptrace, a wireless telecommunications company.

Jennifer serves in several capacities for WITI, Women in Technology International. She functions both as Regional Vice President, as well as Network Director for the WITI Silicon Valley Network. She founded the San Diego chapter of FWE, which became the WITI San Diego regional network in January 2005 [she built the original San Diego chapter from its inception to a membership base of over 200 members] and remains active in its leadership to the present date].

Jennifer is an active member of several foundations and organizations. In addition to her capacities and service in WITI, she is on the board of directors for the Golden Gate Chapter of ALA, Association of Legal Administrators, and serves as co-chair of the Finance Committee. Previously, she chaired the Sharp Hospice 2006 and 2007 Annual Regatta organizing committee in San Diego. She was a member of the San Diego MIT Enterprise Forum board and Executive Committee from 2006-2008.

Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN. She studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris in 2001, and received her certificate, Chef du Patisserie du Bas, in August 2001. Her passion is sailing, and she and her husband competed in the 2005 Transpacific Yacht Race (sailing from Long Beach, CA to Honolulu, HI). She is a member of the San Diego Yacht Club.

Adriana Vela
Founder/Chair, NanoBioNexus

Adriana Vela, Founder & Chair NanoBioNexus. After 18 years of tracking leading-edge technologies in the high-tech industry and defining new markets, Adriana embarked in the Life Sciences arena through various client-led projects. In 2004, Adriana founded NanoBioNexus, a not-for-profit corporation focused on tracking nanotech applications in the life sciences. She leads a team of high caliber scientists and business professionals and has developed an international presence for NanoBioNexus.

Under her leadership, NanoBioNexus was selected to participate in a $20 million, 5-year National Cancer Institute grant for the creation of a Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE). In this role, Adriana serves as project co-lead of the Educational Core team for the regional NanoTumor Center (www.ntc-ccne.org) tasked with developing educational strategies, tools and outreach programs for intra-center members as well as the healthcare community and general public.

As a professional consultant and strategic advisor, she has assisted start-up companies in securing funding, doing market validation, customer acquisition and go-to-market strategies. Her corporate career includes management positions with global responsibility for driving new technologies at Fortune 100 companies. She has brought dozens of technology products to market, has managed multi-million dollar corporate initiatives.

Prior to founding NanoBioNexus, Adriana was instrumental in building and shaping a similar organization from the ground up while in Silicon Valley. Adriana has served on several boards and decision-making committees. She holds a Bachelors of Business Administration/Information Technology from the University of Texas in Austin.

Felena Hanson
Principal - Perspective Marketing

For the last eight years Felena's company, Perspective Marketing, has specialized in providing high-quality, cost-effective marketing strategy services to small businesses. Felena's latest venture is a collaborative work, meeting, and event space for female entrepreneurs. Hera Hub was conceived to fill a huge gap between the various space options available to local business women. Women love Hera Hub's spa-like environment. It is the perfect place for collaboration, community, credibility, and visibility!

Felena is dedicated to helping women in Business both locally and internationally. She is the co-founder of the Business Women's Mega Mixer, the first event of its kind to bring together over 600 women to celebrate Women's History Month and showcase over thirty professional women's organizations throughout San Diego County. She is also the proud past president of the local chapters of Women's Global Network & Ladies Who Launch. Felena has been recognized for her efforts through her nomination for the "Women Who Mean Business Award" from the San Diego Business Journal in 2009, the "Women Business Owner of the Year Award" by the local chapter of the National Organization of Women Business Owners in 2010, and the "Women Who Move the City Award" by San Diego Magazine in 2011.

Felena earned her Bachelor's degree in Marketing from the University of San Diego and her MBA from California State University Dominguez Hills. She taught Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and at California State University Dominguez Hills for the MBA online program for eight years.

Arline Gunter, PMP, CSM
Senior Development Manager - TurboTax Mac & iPad

Arline is a proven business and technology leader with over twenty years experience in premier software and consulting companies. She has had a varied career in Software Development, Client Services and Consulting within Manufacturing, Consumer Products, Financial Services and Telecommunications industries.

A graduate of University of California, San Diego, Arline started her career with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), where she spent 10 years growing from a "hands on" technical role into a Senior Program Manager, responsible for proposal development, project execution and client satisfaction of multi-million dollar engagements. After tiring of the traveling life of a consultant, Arline returned to her native San Diego, to lead software development and client services teams at HNC Software (later acquired by Fair Isaac). Arline went on to work as an Independent Consultant helping start-up technology companies implement Best Practice Client Service processes. A certified Project Management Professional (PMP), she taught Project Management through the local PMI Chapter and San Diego State University Extension.

In 2005, Arline joined Intuit as a Senior Program Manager. Currently, she leads a software development team responsible for the delivery of TurboTax for Mac, and the innovative TurboTax for iPad.

Erin Hickey
Associate, Fish & Richardson P.C.

Erin M. Hickey is an Associate in the Southern California office of Fish & Richardson P.C. and joined the firm in 2007. A member of the firm's Trademark and Copyright Group, Ms. Hickey specializes in all aspects of trademark law, including selecting, protecting, licensing, and enforcing trademarks. She has experience counseling clients on issues relating to non-traditional trademarks, including motion trademarks and color trademarks. Ms. Hickey also represents clients in trademark litigation matters before federal district courts and in proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Karen Winston
Director of Affiliate Programs, CONNECT

Karen Winston joined CONNECT in 2007. She leads the execution of CONNECT's affiliate programs, including the San Diego MIT Enterprise Forum for which she serves as executive director and is responsible for board and committee meetings, all event management, membership, sponsorship, website, marketing, and strategic partnerships. Among Karen's other program responsibilities are the Center for Ethics in Science & Technology, CONNECT's Innovation Institute, CONNECT's Entrepreneurs for Young Innovators and the Global CONNECT Summit. She is also the editor of the weekly CONNECT eNews and manages CONNECT's participation in the San Diego Science Festival.

Karen has more than 25 years of experience in marketing and public relations, including 12 years as a marketing consultant. Her clients and past employers were primarily lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, professional speakers/authors and other professional services in San Diego and the east coast. She has a BS in Communications and Sociology from UC San Diego.

Dena Ayala
Division Manager, Suna Solutions

Dena Ayala has 13 years experience within Talent Acquisition and Human Capital Services industry. During college Dena started a staffing company, Direct Resources, alongside her family. She developed a passion for helping people within their career search, while helping employers find talent their companies needed.

In 2004 Dena joined SOS Staffing, and redeveloped the San Diego Market. Within 3 years the division grew from 50 employees to nearly 300. She then travelled throughout the US to teach other SOS staff the fundamentals of executive recruiting. She was awarded SOS Pacific Region Top Sales Award in 2005.

To expand her area of focus within human capital, in 2008, Dena joined one of 100 largest staffing companies in the US, The Evergent Group. She was tasked to develop the San Diego market under a new business line, Suna Solutions, as Suna's first employee. Four years later, Suna has grown to over 500 employees in San Diego alone, and is one of the fastest growing firms in the nation recognized by Staffing Industry Analytics. Dena now oversees the recruiting functions for the business staffing division. Her division utilizes the most advanced recruiting techniques including social media recruiting concepts. She understands how to help her clients engage the top talent available and maintain a competitive workforce. In 2010 she was awarded Suna Solutions Presidents Award.

She is a member of National Human Resources Association and North County Personnel Association. She is heavily involved in the non-profit Casa De Amparo based in Oceanside.

A few fun facts about Dena: she is responsible for her company wellness initiative including organizing a weekly Yoga Class and participating in the Suna Soccer team. Dena is a native San Diegan who currently resides in Cardiff-by-the-Sea with her family - which includes six children aged 3 through 18--she's also known to be quite proficient at foosball.

Your WITI membership supports our ongoing commitment to forwarding the advancement of women in science and technology and includes such benefits as access to all of our online services including the WITI Strategist, our online newsletter and discounts to WITI San Diego events. Join WITI Today!